Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet a Palestinian Authority
delegation led by PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad after the Passover
holiday in order to exchange letters that relate both sides´
positions regarding the stalled peace process, a senior diplomatic
official confirmed on Israel Radio Wednesday.

The Palestinian delegation will also include PLO Executive Committee
Secretary Yasser Abed Rabo.

An official in Jerusalem said Netanyahu would reiterate, at the
meeting with Fayyad, his call for peace talks to get under way
without any terms for their resumption.

The official said Netanyahu would also repeat his demand that
Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state in any peace
agreement -- something they oppose.

An adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Nimr Hammad, said that the
Palestinian letter would put emphasis on the stumbling blocks the PA
believes have prevented the resumption of direct negotiations.

"The real test in front of Netanyahu is to stop the settlements,
after which he will find that we are ready for negotiations,"
Mohammed Shtayyeh, a member of the Palestinian negotiating team, told
Reuters.

"These aren´t conditions, but what we want him to say is that he´s
ready to end the occupation," he said.

Nabil Shaath, a senior official in Abbas´s Fatah movement, said the
Palestinian letter to Netanyahu "is an assessment of where we are" in
the peace process.

Those issues, mentioned by Abbas in Cairo earlier this week, include
Israel´s unwillingness to stop settlement construction in the West
Bank, and Jerusalem´s failure to adhere to "international
obligations," Hammad said.

Speaking at an inaugural ceremony for a new building at the
Palestinian embassy in Egypt on Tuesday, Abbas said these issues were
not preconditions, but obligations which Israel must fulfill in
accordance with international legitimacy.

"When Israel accepts these two obligations, we will be ready to
return to the negotiations,” he said.

In response, Netanyahu will present the PA with his own letter, to be
delivered by Israel´s ambassador to the Palestinians, Yithak Moho.

As The Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday, the letter is expected
to contain the following points:

• Israel is prepared for peace talks with the Palestinians where all
the core issues will be on the agenda.

• Israel places no preconditions whatsoever on entering the talks.

• An agreement reached must contain Palestinian recognition of Israel
as the nation-state of the Jewish people, and include effective
security arrangements.